PC Games Of 2015: Those Wot Could Conceivably Be Good

RPGs

RPGs had a good year in 2014, with the lines of Wasteland 2, Divinity: Original Sin and Dragon Age: Inquisition all leaving a lasting impression. 2015 could be even better, continuing the line of Kickstarted marvels like Pillars of Eternity and Torment: Tides of Numenera.

Bombshell

Genre
Action RPGRelease date
TBA 2015What is it?
What we know for certain about Bombshell: it is a video game that exists. Everything else about Inceptor Entertainment/3D Realms’ latest attempt at keeping head above water is up in the air, beyond the certainty that we’ll be playing as a scantily-clad, part-robot heroine. The Shadow Warrior reboot was pretty great so, hey, anything’s possible.

Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin

Genre
Action RPGRelease date
Out now!What is it?
Looking to improve some of the community’s concerns about the most hotly anticipated sequel of 2014, this updated re-release adds new story through item descriptions and NPCs, rebalances for a smoother (though likely still bastard-hard) difficulty curve and pretties-up the graphics.

Eitr

Genre
Action RPGRelease date
TBAWhat is it?
Dark Souls and Diablo meet in a viking dungeon to create Eitr. Beautiful pixel-art and a love for murdering its players with strong animation-focused isometric combat where getting overwhelmed by even the weakest enemies is deadly.

Moon Hunters

Genre
Action RPGRelease date
February 2016What is it?
A full on 1-4 player RPG adventure is just the beginning of why Moon Hunters is interesting. The world and its stories are procedurally generated and each playthrough will leave a new mythology in the world, to be discovered later.

Titan Souls

Genre
Action RPGRelease date
Out now!What is it?
Possibly the strongest elevator pitch of 2015: “Shadow of the Colossus meets Legend of Zelda meets Dark Souls.” You wouldn’t be blamed for rolling your eyes at that description, but it gets the inspirations of the devilishly tough, top-down, all-boss-fight Titan Souls across.

Wayward Tide

Genre
Action RPGRelease date
TBAWhat is it?
The Starbound devs’ next game is a pirate action-romp about braving dangerous islands for loot and glory. Up to four player co-op makes inevitable traitorous backstabbery possible, In fact they’re actively encouraging it, designing traps such that individuals can get ahead of their “friends” with careful play.

Lost Sea

Genre
Action RPGRelease date
TBA 2015What is it?
A Diablo-like set on a mysterious island in the Bermuda triangle, told with a smile and colourful backgrounds. Gathering crew and supplies to build a ship and escape inevitably fails, meaning the mysteries of the region must be investigated.

FORCED 2: The Rush

Genre
Action RPG, Card GameRelease date
TBAWhat is it?
A roguelike with procedurally generated levels, but in which you’re competing against other players to get further through the course, and with a deckbuilding component. Which sounds like it might be good, and offers a significant spin on the original Forced.

Dynasty Warriors 8: Empires

Genre
Action RPG, Third PersonRelease date
Out now!What is it?
What to say about a Dynasty Warriors game? If you’re unfamiliar with the formula, there’ll be nigh-endless hordes of enemies to defeat with massively powerful and impressive looking attacks through a story about feuding Chinese nations. If you aren’t: it’s more of that thing you like.

Grim Dawn

Genre
Early Access, Action RPGRelease date
TBAWhat is it?
From the makers of Titan Quest, an ARPG set in a grubby, decrepit world. It feels as good as Titan Quest did when you’re bashing the monsters, and it should satisfy those who felt that Diablo 3 lost that series’ darker edge. It’s been Early Access for a couple of years now, but new content is being added regularly in chapters.

After Reset

Genre
Early Access, RPGRelease date
Q3What is it?
Coupling hard sci-fi in a post-apocalyptic nuclear wasteland with hardcore RPGing in the style of early Bioware efforts or the Fallout games, there are free beta demo builds already available and Early Access is expected very early next year.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance

Genre
Early Access, RPGRelease date
December 2015What is it?
Swords without the sorcery, Kingdom Come is a much more realistic simulation of medieval life than your average RPG. There are no dragons to fight here, just monarchies, peasants and a near-lawless wilderness.

The Girl And The Robot

Genre
Early Access, RPGRelease date
TBAWhat is it?
Escaping the clutches of an evil queen with the help of a friendly robot, you play the princess of the land in this two-character puzzle platformer/brawler. Successfully Kickstarter with an alpha version available off-Steam to show the basics.

Forge Quest

Genre
RPGRelease date
Out now!What is it?
Thoroughly un-serious top-down dungeon crawling in a world overrun by chickens and in Early Access since November 2013. Updates have been very regular, adding to the base of randomly generated dungeons filled with monsters and loot. Fully co-oppable too. The final version is now out.

AnimalAlbum

Genre
Educational, JRPGRelease date
TBAWhat is it?
Taking two roles, AnimalAlbum aims to be both a co-op RPG for those looking for fun and an educational game for kids to learn about the animals of the world. That means it’s significantly more peaceful than the average, mostly about identifying what you find in the wild.

Citizens of Earth

Genre
JRPGRelease date
Out now!What is it?
A combination of JRPG and political satire, Citizens of Earth casts you in the role of the Vice-President of the world as he gathers constituents (translation: party-members) to fight some mysterious evil. It’s a failed-Kickstarter survivor, managing only a third of a $100,000 CAD goal in late 2013.

Earthlock: Festival Of Magic

Genre
JRPGRelease date
TBAWhat is it?
Immediately reminiscent of the Playstation era, Earthlock is JRPG through and through with just enough spice to keep it original. Wildly caricatured monsters and NPCs, a world-threatening plot building from simple beginnings and classic turn-based combat.

Edge of Eternity

Genre
JRPGRelease date
December 2016What is it?
A space JRPG that blends scifi and medieval influences. It takes place on a planet called Heryon, where an alien race has invaded and turn its people and animals into metal monsters. It looks like an ambitious game for a small indie studio.

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

Genre
JRPGRelease date
TBA 2015What is it?
Only the third direct sequel produced for a Final Fantasy game, Lightning Returns finishes off the plot of the XIII trilogy. This PC release should be improved by what Square learned from the dodgy ports released previously, but definitely wait and see on that front.

Project Phoenix

Genre
JRPGRelease date
TBA 2015What is it?
Japan’s first Kickstarted video game is naturally a JRPG, trading a lot on the value of Nobuo Uematsu’s involvement. Its battles don’t take part on their own screen, but rather hostile regions turn into a party-based RPG in the Baldur’s Gate style.

Shiness

Genre
JRPGRelease date
TBA 2015What is it?
One of many indie attempts at the JRPG formula, Shiness is of note for the scale and impressive nature of what the small French studio had already managed to build before their successful Kickstarter. With a backer-only Alpha that started in November, some are already exploring the sky islands of the manga-inspired land some 20 years in the making.

Celestial Tear: Demon’s Revenge

Genre
JRPGRelease date
Q3What is it?
After an impressive and possibly record four shots at the Kickstarter pie, this JRPG finally scraped an asking price of $4,500. That’s some determination and it will be interesting to see what the two-person team can do.

Heart Forth, Alicia

Genre
Metroidvania, RPGRelease date
TBA 2016What is it?
A metroidvania RPG with detailed, pixel art graphics from a side-on perspective. So far we know more about its backstory than its mechanics – there’s floating islands you’ve fallen off, and now you’re trying to find your way back home.

Shadow Realms

Genre
Online, Action RPGRelease dateCANCELLEDWhat is it?
When Bioware teased a new game, online-only asymmetric multiplayer that claims to also be a story-driven RPG probably wasn’t want anyone was expecting. It’s far from their comfort zone, which makes it interesting, but it will need to convince everyone that it’s a better idea than something in the Dragon Age/Mass Effect ilk.

The Escapists

Genre
Real-Time Strategy, Simulation, Early AccessRelease date
TBAWhat is it?
If Prison Architect is about building prisons to safely lock up prisoners, The Escapists is a game from the perspective of those people you’ve got locked up. In a Pokémon-like art style and perspective, you’ve got to gather or craft the items you need in order to escape from a prison, dodging guards, sneaking around security systems, and trying not to get shot in the process. Already a hit in Early Access, it should be completed next year.

Cyberpunk 2077

Genre
RPGRelease date
TBA 2077What is it?
All we know is it’s a cyberpunk (the style) Cyberpunk (the PnP RPG) game from the guys that made The Witcher. That’s all we really need to be excited, and 2015 is more likely to be a year of discovering more about the game than one where we get to play it – particularly given CD Projekt RED’s preference for delay rather than release of an imperfect product.

InSomnia

Genre
RPGRelease date
TBAWhat is it?
A second bite at the Kickstarter money-apple is to thank for Insomnia and its “dieselpunk” world. It’s in the style of Fallout, but with more of a focus on a living sandbox world. There’s also a heavy co-op element where both players will be able to influence the plot.

Mass Effect (4?)

Genre
RPGRelease date
TBAWhat is it?
We don’t know anything about the next entry in Bioware’s sci-fi epic, not even what it’s called. Some concept art and the knowledge that it will use the same engine as Inquisition is likely our lot until E3.

Prodigy

Genre
RPGRelease date
TBA 2016What is it?
One of a few attempts to try to combine the exceedingly popular habit of buying miniatures with video games. In Prodigy the figures are placed on specially made surfaces that recognise what they are and emulate their movements in-game.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Genre
RPGRelease date
Out now!What is it?
A front-runner for most highly-anticipated and best game of the year, The Witcher 3 has managed to maintain impossibly high expectations throughout the long (and delayed) development. It’s massively ambitious and time-consumingly huge in the way only RPGs can be. If nothing else, look forward to the RPGOTY Inquisition vs. Witcher comparison fight.

Torment: Tides of Numenera

Genre
RPGRelease date
Q4What is it?
The most highly funded video game Kickstarter of all time – and one of the top 8 in any category – has a lot of expectation to live up to. Even without the massive influx of funds, it’s the sequel to many people’s answer to best game ever. Possible delays could see it heading into 2016.

Pillars of Eternity

Genre
RPGRelease date
3/26/2015What is it?
And here’s the 2nd most successful game kickstarter of all time, in the same genre. That’s a lot of hours bludgeoning goblins, but Pillars’ party-based RPGing came a lot sooner than Numenera.

Witchmarsh

Genre
RPGRelease date
December 2015What is it?
Party-based questing into the supernatural frontier of the roaring twenties with a custom team of explorers. Designed with co-op in mind, it’s aiming for a strong, decision-based narrative, tactical combat with optional bosses for a real challenge and just the right level of creepy to double it’s £50k Kickstarter goal.

Liege

Genre
RPGRelease date
TBAWhat is it?
A party-based RPG inspired by Final Fantasy in its mechanics but by fiction like Game of Thrones in its tone and story. Your party is made up of characters of different classes and banners: classes such as Pikemen or Knights can be paired or stacked for tactical benefits, while banners add further stats increases to whatever classes you pick.

Kyn

Genre
RPGRelease date
TBA 2015What is it?
In a similar style to the popular party-based RPGs of old, but with Torchlight and friends’ flair for over the top destruction of environment and foe, Kyn is Viking-inspired with a dose of comedy. It will be interesting to see how all that meshes in a game that’s trying to be closer to Baldur’s Gate than Diablo when it comes to making decisions in combat.

Elysian Shadows

Genre
RPGRelease date
December 2015What is it?
Zelda-style RPG that switches between 2D and 3D perspectives and uses modern lighting techniques and audio engines to feel “next-gen.” It’s also launching on the Sega Dreamcast, because why not?

Creepy Castle

Genre
RPG, Side-ScrollingRelease date
TBAWhat is it?
A minimum-bit RPG that’s so retro it might actually have come here in a time machine, Creepy Castle is about a non-specific animal warrior facing the evils of the titular dungeon. It’s closer to an adventure game with how uncompromising combat is – you either have the correct stats to win a fight or you don’t – so new areas must be explored to level up and find better items.

Barkley 2

Genre
Shooter, RPGRelease date
TBAWhat is it?
That the first Barkley game, a JRPG akin to FF6 but with basketball jokes instead of fantasy tropes, even existed is some sort of cosmic miracle. The sequel – fully titled The Magical Realms of Tír na nÓg: Escape from Necron 7 – Revenge of Cuchulainn: The Official Game of the Movie – Chapter 2 of the Hoopz Barkley SaGa – is something entirely different, a top down shooter, with that same humour.

Rebel Galaxy

Genre
Space, RPGRelease date
TBAWhat is it?
Space-fun’s going to be ten a penny in 2015. Rebel Galaxy looks to escalate things faster than its rivals. Every ship is a huge hunk of metal strapped to dozens of guns and diplomacy is a matter of selecting the best insult.

Vagante

Genre
RPG, Roguelike, Platformer, Early AccessRelease date
TBAWhat is it?
Spelunky-ish dark platforming and classic RPGizing with levels, magic and mysterious potions scattered around. An unsuccessful Kickstarter put the project in doubt, but Early Access proved both more successful and better received. You can get it there now, or wait for the final release later this year.

Aderyn’s Cradle

Genre
RPG, First-PersonRelease date
Q3 2016What is it?
The incredibly pretty and massive open-world first game of Mojo Game Studios, formed from a collection of university students. They’ve thrown themselves into the deep end, promising a skill based combat system, 30 hours of play and a deep, meaningful story.

Serpent in the Staglands

Genre
RPGRelease date
Out now!What is it?
A classic RPG in every meaning of the term. Isometric combat in real time with pausing, a massive fantasy world and epic storyline. Made $28,000 on Kickstarter last year and though it was meant to be in full release by now, there is a playable version with backers and updates continue apace.

Underrail

Genre
RPG, Early AccessRelease date
TBAWhat is it?
Fallout-inspired post-apocalyptic wasteland exploration, mutant-slaying and general questifying. Available in a non-Steam early access form and on our collective RPS game-dar for several years, it should reach full release this year.

The Age of Decadence

Genre
RPG, Early AccessRelease date
TBAWhat is it?
Another on the Fallout pile, but with a whole other spin on the setting. It’s a low-magic fantasy world that’s gone through the collapse of its Roman-esque empire, an apocalyptic event. It’s also aiming for bastard-difficulty that requires careful tactics and exploitation of your characters chosen skills to progress.

Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord

Genre
RPG, Third-PersonRelease date
TBAWhat is it?
Sequel to indie darling kingdom builder/man slaughterer/castle haver, we know very little about M&B2. There’s been scant few blog posts since its announcement in 2012, though we have had the barest glimpse of the level editor and some very pretty medieval foliage.

UnderTale

Genre
JRPGRelease date
TBAWhat is it?
An utterly surreal RPG that seems to take graphical notes from the BBC Micro, writing and world-building tips from Pendleton Ward and even the trailers get self-referential. With a more interesting battle system than we’ve come to expect from indie JRPGs, it’s one to keep track of as Kickstarter updates indicate it’s nearing completion.

Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption

Genre
RPG, AdventureRelease date
March 2016What is it?
A kickstarted point’n’click/RPG combo, aiming to combine the in-depth character interaction and story of the former with the “excitement” (their word, what isn’t exciting about inventory puzzles, EH?!) of the latter. Now with a planned release date a full two years after the original estimate, it’s unlikely to slip again.

Legends of Pixelia

Genre
Action RPG, Retro, Early AccessRelease date
Q4What is it?
Very retro-styled, blocky and procedurally generated dungeons to smash and grab through. Local-multiplayer and single-player both feature and enemies are designed to be tough foes on their own rather than a horde to bash through.

Unraveled

Genre
JRPGRelease date
Q4What is it?
A successful Kickstarter project about a girl who’s lost her parents in a shipping yard, based on a true story (with a lot of imagination thrown in). She must find them quickly as her plush toy-come-to-life is rotting away.

Legends of Eisenwald

Genre
RPG, Turn-Based StrategyRelease date
07/02/2015What is it?
After two years in Early Access and three since its successful Kickstarter, this Kings Bounty style medieval RPG is finally making its fully-fledged appearance. It’s hardcore and realistic in setting and tone with not a dragon in sight.

Zombasite

Genre
Action RPGRelease date
Q3What is it?
A fantasy zombie apocalypse scenario where necromancy has created a zombification virus rather than simply raising the dead. Playing out from a Diablo view point, it promises procedurally generated worlds and bands of followers to recruit and lead.

Sketch Tales

Genre
RPG, Creative, First PersonRelease date
Q3What is it?
A firstperson take on the scribblenauts concept of being able to put anything you can draw into the world and interact with it. When it isn’t a sandbox, there’s an action RPG world to explore.

Victor Vran

Genre
Action RPG, Early AccessRelease date
July 2015What is it?
Action packed undead slaying in a Van Helsing homage. Shotguns, hammers and swords are used to slash, bludgeon and shoot through all manner of demonic horde. Recently added a co-op mode.

Shadowrun: Hong Kong

Genre
RPGRelease date
Q3What is it?
Standalone expansion to the quite excellent Shadowrun series this time set in the cyberpunk future of the East. Upgrades all the systems from previous Shadowrun games, increasing the magic and gear available to players and improving the Editor used to make custom campaigns.

Enter The Gungeon

Genre
Action RPG, ShooterRelease date
Q4What is it?
Taking out all that poxy melee combat that so drags down most dungeon runs, everything and everyone in Enter The Gungeon (pronounce it Gunge Eon for extra plus fun) is projectile-armed to their bullet-teeth.

Guild of Dungeoneering

Genre
RPG, StrategyRelease date
July 14th 2015What is it?
Taking inspiration from a number of boardgames, this challenges you to build a dungeon around an autonomously controlled hero. You must keep him alive but bring him glory, enticing him this way and that to power up before facing the boss.

Knights of Pen & Paper 2

Genre
RPGRelease date
November 30th 2015What is it?
Classic RPGing with tongue lodged firmly in its meta-cheek. Chock full of dice-rolls, Dungeon Masters, character sheets and a play table. Characters are customised not only in their abilities, spells and so on, but the person who is playing them as well.

Overlord: Fellowship of Evil

Genre
RPG, StrategyRelease date
August 25th 2015What is it?
Long-awaited sequel to the be-the-bad-guy RPG of the late 00s. After the death of the titular lord of evil in previous times, four less powerful beings have now been resurrected to help battle the disgusting forces of good. The upshot of this for you and I is the addition of co-op to the Rhianna Pratchett-penned storyline.

Super Dungeon Bros

Genre
Action RPG, Co-opRelease date
TBAWhat is it?
Local multiplayer focused dungeon diving with up to three friends and an unhealthy and all too ironic addiction to the word “bro.” Teaming up to tackle obstacles and monsters is a must, with various combinations of the four characters allowing for special moves.

Underworld Ascendant

Genre
RPGRelease date
November 2016What is it?
Spiritual successor to Ultima Underworld Kickstarted at the start of this year and continuing the crowdfund effort through its own website. Grimy, gritty underground RPGing from some of the minds behind System Shock and Thief.

The Technomancer

Genre
RPGRelease date
TBA 2016What is it?
From Spiders, of Bound By Flame and Mars: War Logs, comes this somewhat sequel to that latter game, even if they’re trying to avoid mentioning it. It’s Sci-fi RPG through and through with all the bells and whistles – cyber magic through multiple endings and story-modifying conversation.

Fallout 4

Genre
RPGRelease date
TBAWhat is it?
Long awaited Bethesda-RPG sequel to the long running post-apocalyptic series. Details have been nuked but the initial trailer suggests there will be sections set before the end of humanity, with Vault 111 being the focal point this go round.

Fable Legends

Genre
Action RPG, Co-op, Strategy, Free To PlayRelease date
TBAWhat is it?
Four players attack the stronghold, dungeon or open plan office of one villainous antagonist, with the capability for AI to take any of these roles. The first game to require Windows 10 and have Xbox One cross-play.

Fairy Fencer F

Genre
JRPGRelease date
TBA 2015What is it?
Originally a 2013 PS3 release, this very-JRPG JRPG is being ported to PC some time this year. There’s also a sequel on the way for the Sonybox 4, but no word of if that will make it our way. The story focuses on the eponymous fairy fencers on the search for magic swords to kill, presumably, each other. Obviously.

Soul Saga

Genre
JRPGRelease date
TBAWhat is it?
PSX-era inspired indie JRPG with beautiful concept art and slightly blocky models as you’d expect. Along with having the greatest logo of all time, the dev team Disaster Cake successfully Kickstarted the project for almost $200k in 2013.

Sword Coast Legends

Genre
RPGRelease date
TBA 2015What is it?
The latest attempt by Wizards of the Coast to port Dungeons and Dragons directly into a game that will then serve as a platform on which people can build their own games. The DM mode is the interesting part, providing enough slots for a four person party and Dungeon Master to experience “non-adverserial gameplay.”

Trine 3: The Artifacts of Power

Genre
RPG, Early AccessRelease date
Q3What is it?
Third iteration in the series about a band of adventurers platforming their way around a colourful fantasy world. They’ve ditched the 2D perspective, a pretty big move for the series, hence the Early Access tag to check everything works to the fan’s content.

Warhammer: End Times – Vermintide

Genre
First Person, RPG, ShooterRelease date
Q3What is it?
One of a rat king’s worth of maybe-good Warhammer games on the horizon, this is a Left 4 Skaven style shooter/RPG set in a dying city overrun by the rat people. Like its inspirations it will have single-player possibilities, but with-humans co-op will be where the meat lies.

YIIK: A Postmodern RPG

Genre
JRPGRelease date
Q4What is it?
Jury’s out on whether that’s ‘Yiik’ or ‘Y2K’ but a tech-focused plot about eight strangers infiltrating other worlds and, er, “weaponising plushie Pandas” may suggest the latter. Final dev time is looking to clock in at under a year and a half, it will be interesting to see how much the small dev team manages to get done in that time.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

Genre
RPG, Games British Games Critics LikeRelease date
TBAWhat is it?
Second game in Square Enix’s Deus Ex prequel series and hopefully better received (by people other than Kierion Gillen) than that other Deus Ex sequel. They’re advancing the plot of enhanced humans vs. filthy pure-bios further and bringing in a new game engine, hopefully improving on the slightly static nature of Human Revolution’s world.

Expeditions: Vikings

Genre
RPG, StrategyRelease date
TBAWhat is it?
Sending expeditions, yeah now you get it, from your home village out into the world to pillage, trade, invade or explore the world like our wonderful Scandinavian ancestors. You’ll also need to defend yourself from rival tribes.

Exanima

Genre
RPGRelease date
Q4What is it?
Full-on hardcore simulation-style dark low fantasy RPG. On Early Access since April, it’s aiming for and hitting being radically difficult. It actually forms the prequel of a much larger game called Sui Generis, Kickstarted in 2013.

StarCrawlers

Genre
RPG, SpaceRelease date
Q4What is it?
StarCrawlers switches out the usual broadswords and dungeon wurms for laser pistols and derelict robots. Exploring destroyed spacecraft in search of adventure and loot, you lead a merry band of space pirates to fame and fortune.

BloodLust Shadowhunter

Genre
RPG, Early AccessRelease date
Q3What is it?
Full goth vampire RPG with all the Masquerade/Requiem trappings you could hope for outside the actual White Wolf license. Even better than Bloodlines, it’s actually getting QA tested through a few months of Early Access.

Bit Odyssey

Genre
RPG, SpaceRelease date
TBAWhat is it?
Previously called ‘Tiny Trek’ this 8-bit galaxy explorer allows for customisation of ship and crew. Battles can be fought in space or planetside. That original name was the eventual goal, a full bore retro-styled Star Trek simulator.

Wanderlust Adventures

Genre
Action RPG, OnlineRelease date
TBA 2015What is it?
Online and open world spin-off to the Wanderlust series, itself a homage to SNES classic Secret of Mana. Cutesy colourful graphics and quick combat are its hallmarks with a ‘massive procedurally generated world’ promised in this version.

OreLight

Genre
RPG, Online, CreativeRelease date
Q4What is it?
A top-down Minecrafty thinger with a heavier RPG focus and the ability to move almost anything in the world. Isometric seems to be the final perspective left unconquered by the power of Terraria and co, this plans to fix that.

Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth3: V Generation

Genre
JRPGRelease date
TBAWhat is it?
No you haven’t had a stroke, that’s really what it’s called. Part of a series running almost as long as its titles, it’s an in-depth JRPG with a deep and complex battle system.